Long-billed Pipit
Anthus similis
A large, slender pipit with considerable variation across its range. African and South Asian birds average browner, warmer-colored, and more heavily streaked on the breast than the grayer-toned Middle Eastern subspecies. All subspecies possess a pale eyebrow, a long tail, and a relatively long bill. As with many other pipits, can be frustratingly difficult to identify in the field; habitat and voice are important clues. Prefers dry, open areas with clumps of vegetation and scattered rocks and boulders, typically on slopes. Calls include squeaky sparrow-like chirps and sweet two-noted whistles. Song doesn’t quite sound like a song: a sequence of plaintive whistles, two-noted chirps, and other call-like vocalizations strung together with pauses in between.
Identification
This is a medium-large pipit, 16–17.5 cm long, but is an undistinguished looking species on the ground, mainly sandy grey above and whitish or pale buff below. It is very similar to the tawny pipit, but is slightly larger, has a longer tail and a longer dark bill.<p>The long-billed pipit's flight is strong and direct, and it gives a characteristic chupp call, similar to desert lark. Its song is like that of the tawny pipit, but slower and more varied, sri...churr...sri...churr…sri..churr. Like its relatives, long-billed pipit eats seeds and insects.<p>The long-billed pipit's breeding habitat is dry open slopes with rocks and low vegetation. The nest is on the ground, with 2-4 eggs being laid.
Taxonomy
This is a complex group with several similar looking birds with very disjunct distributions and the exact patterns of phylogeny are yet to be determined. Several subspecies that were formerly placed within this species have been raised to full species status.<p>The wood pipit (Anthus nyassae), an inhabitant of miombo woodland in south-central Africa, was formerly treated as a subspecies of this bird but is now usually regarded as a separate species. Some authorities also split Bannerman's pipit (Anthus (similis) bannermani), a bird of mountain grassland in West Africa. The Nicholson's pipit is a recently split non-migratory species from southern Africa.<p>The nominate race was described by Thomas C. Jerdon in 1840 from peninsular India. This form occurs along the Western Ghats and into the Nilgiris and Palni Hills. A darker race travancoriensis was described by Sidney Dillon Ripley in 1953 for the form possibly restricted south of the Palghat Gap. Subspecies decaptus described by Richard Meinertzhagen is found in Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of northwestern India, while jerdoni is found along the Himalayan foothills east to Nepal. The population yamethini is somewhat disjunct and found in Myanmar. Several other races are described in the West Asian region and from Africa.
- Scientific name
- Anthus similis
- Authority
- (Jerdon, 1840)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Motacillidae
- Genus
- Anthus
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Bird Calls
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